DelVal women earn 4th seed in conference tourney

The Delaware Valley College women’s basketball team earned the fourth seed in the upcoming Freedom Conference tournament.

The Aggies will travel to Madison, N.J., to take on undefeated and defending champion FDU-Florham in the semifinals on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

This contest will be the second time the two teams have met in four days as FDU-Florham completed its perfect regular-season by defeating the Aggies, 87-73, in Doylestown on Saturday.

The winner of Wednesday’s meeting will advance to the Freedom Conference Championship Game on Saturday (time TBA, site at the highest remaining seed) and play the winner of Wednesday’s other semifinal match-up between No. 2 seed Eastern University and third-seeded DeSales University.

The tournament berth is the eighth for DelVal College head coach Laura Hogan’s squad in the last 14 seasons and the first since the 2010 campaign. Hogan, in her 18th year at the helm, has led the Aggies to nine Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC)/Freedom Conference playoff berths, four Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) playoff berths and one ECAC Southern Region Championship.

This year’s edition, which features no seniors on the roster, entered the season ranked fifth in the Freedom Conference preseason coaches’ poll, but finished in fourth place thanks to a 15-10 overall record and an 8-6 mark in league play. The Aggies put together winning streaks of five and four games during the season.

Delaware Valley is the last team to hand FDU-Florham a regular-season loss as the Aggies went to Madison last February and posted a 69-67 victory. Delaware Valley made a return trip there on Jan. 29 of this year and gave the Devils one of their toughest tests of the season. Delaware Valley was the first team (and only one of two all year) to hold a lead at the half over FDU-Florham with a 31-28 advantage at the break. The Aggies kept up the pressure and led by two points with just over 10 minutes to play in regulation, the latest the Devils trailed in a game all season. FDU-Florham went on to score 22 of the game’s final 24 points for a 72-54 victory.

Delaware Valley has had the same starting lineup all season and those five are expected to take the court for the tip-off on Wednesday. Reigning Freedom Conference Rookie of the Year Eireann Anastasi (Philadelphia, PA/St. Hubert) leads the squad with averages of 16.3 points and 2.6 steals per game. She also adds 4.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per contest and has had strong outings against the Devils with 26 points, eight rebounds and eight assists over the two games.

Junior forward and team captain Brenna Coll (Philadelphia, PA/Springside) is closing in on a milestone as she needs just 18 points to become the 14th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau in a career. For the year, she is averaging 14.6 points and a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game. Coll has notched 28 points and 14 boards against FDU-Florham this year.

Fellow junior Agatha Drozd (Stroudsburg, PA/Pocono Mountain East) tops the team with 93 assists and 52 steals this year. The guard is averaging 8.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game and she has 23 points in two games against the Devils.

The starting lineup is rounded out by two juniors in transfer guard Brittany Wood (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) and team captain and center Shannon Barlow (Levittown, PA /Neshaminy). Wood leads all Aggies with 41 treys and 23 blocks while averaging 10.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per contest. Barlow contributes 6.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and is third on the team in blocks with 17.

Off the bench, Delaware Valley is led by sophomore guard Kelsey Kilpatrick (Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic) and her average of 6.9 points per contest. She has 38 shots from beyond the arc, including seven over two games against FDU-Florham.

FDU-FLORHAM

Fifth-year head coach Marc Mitchell led his Devils to the first undefeated season in the program’s 34 year history as they finished the season ranked fifth in all of Division III thanks to a 25-0 overall record and a 14-0 mark in the Freedom. This comes off last year’s record-breaking campaign that saw them go 24-4, capture the Freedom championship and reach the NCAAs.

The 2013-14 squad is averaging 82 points per game and outscoring their opponents by an average of 26 points per showing. They have eclipsed the 90-point mark seven times and their closest margin of victory has been 10 when they beat the University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon, 90-80, on December 29.

Reigning Freedom Conference Player of the Year and All-American forward Kyra Dayon leads the team with 13.4 points and 2.7 steals per game while playing just over 29 minutes per outing. The junior also has averages of 7.2 rebounds and three assists per game. Her sister, Kara Dayon, leads the Devils with 43 treys and averages 9.2 points per game.

Sophomore center Rachel Groom is second on the team in scoring average with 11.5 points per game and she also add 6.5 rebounds an outing. Sophomore forward Shalette Brown is the team’s leader on the boards (8.6 avg) and also contributes 10.6 points per contest. Junior guard Leigh-Ann Lively leads FDU-Florham off the bench with 8.7 points per contest and she coming off a career high six 3-pointers and 25 points in the win over DelVal.

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